Ranking: Best smartphones reviewed by Notebookcheck

The Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is a high-end gaming smartphone that impresses with its enormous performance and special gaming features. Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, it offers up to 24 GB of RAM and a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with 185 Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,500 cd/m².

Special features include the ROG GameCool 9 cooling system and the AeroActive Cooler X, which improves the gaming experience and prevents overheating with additional physical buttons. The device is robustly built, with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and IP68 certification. Practical additional functions such as AirTrigger and two USB-C ports make it versatile.

Technically, the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is of the highest standard. However, compromises have to be made with the cameras and the update supply. 

The camera equipment is solid, with the Sony Lytia 700 sensor delivering usable results even in difficult lighting conditions. The 5,800 mAh battery supports fast wired and wireless charging, although the energy consumption in gaming mode is high. One point of criticism is that Asus only provides two guaranteed Android updates. 

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra presents itself as a powerful smartphone with a special focus on its camera features. The device has a Leica quad camera, consisting of a 50-megapixel main camera with 1-inch sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with triple zoom and a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto lens with 4.3x zoom.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra impresses with its powerful camera and wide range of functions, which should appeal to photography enthusiasts in particular.

The 6.73-inch LTPO AMOLED display offers a resolution of 3,200 x 1,440 pixels and a variable refresh rate of 1 Hz to 120 Hz. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, supported by fast LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.1 flash memory. The 6,000 mAh battery can be charged via USB-C with up to 90 watts or wirelessly with 80 watts.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) and brings moderate hardware improvements compared to its predecessor. The camera equipment includes a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with the Samsung GN3 sensor, which is also used for macro shots. The main camera has a 200-megapixel sensor that produces 12-megapixel photos through pixel binning. There is also a 3x and a 5x optical zoom lens. The image stabilization is remarkable, especially with the 5x zoom. Videos can be recorded in resolutions from 720p to 8K, with new functions such as "Audio Eraser" to reduce background noise and "Nightography" for better recordings in low light conditions.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra offers a strong overall package with 7 years of updates.

The smartphone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor, supported by 12 GB of RAM. The device shows excellent performance in benchmarks, but performance is reduced under continuous load to prevent overheating. Overall, the Galaxy S25 Ultra impresses with its strong performance and AI-supported functions, while the hardware improvements are moderate compared to the predecessor model.

The Honor Magic7 Pro offers proven technology such as a fast USB 3.2 port, NFC and an IR transmitter, but neither UWB nor Bluetooth LE. The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor works precisely, while the software is based on MagicOS 9.0, which integrates numerous AI functions such as live translations and image editing. With IP69 certification, the device is not only dust and waterproof, but can also withstand high-pressure and steam jet cleaning.

The OLED display offers dynamic 120 Hz, high brightness values and precise color accuracy. Circular polarized light and high-frequency PWM dimming are easy on the eyes. The Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers strong performance, but the Honor smartphone is slightly inferior to the competition in benchmarks, presumably due to the cooling.

The Honor Magic7 Pro offers a lot for a greatly reduced price right from the start.

The camera equipment is a highlight: the 50 MP main camera offers variable apertures, an improved portrait function and good results in low light. The 200 MP zoom lens enables lossless magnification up to a 6x zoom, while the ultra-wide angle also impresses as a macro. Videos can be recorded in 4K with 60 FPS. The front camera also offers 50 MP and UHD recordings.

The battery life is good despite the smaller EU model (5,270 mAh). Fast charging options with up to 100 watts wired and 80 watts wireless enable short charging times.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is a compact flagship smartphone with a screen size of 6.2 inches. It is equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, which promises a significant increase in performance compared to the previous model. The device offers 12 GB of RAM and is available in storage variants of 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB.

The AMOLED display supports an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and offers a Full HD+ resolution. The camera equipment includes a main camera with optical image stabilization, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a telephoto lens with triple optical zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is positioned as a powerful and compact flagship smartphone with modern AI functions, but with few changes compared to its predecessors.

The 4,000 mAh battery supports wired charging with 25 watts as well as wireless charging via Fast Wireless Charging 2.0. The device is IP68-certified, which offers protection against water and dust. Despite its high-quality features, the Galaxy S25 remains light and compact with a weight of 162 grams. The Galaxy S25 also offers advanced AI functions, including the Google Gemini Assistant.

Samsung offers the Galaxy S25+ as a slightly larger and better equipped variant.

The Apple iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are technically almost identical and only differ in terms of their display, case and battery size. Both are powered by the Apple A18 Pro which provides a lot of computing, AI and gaming power. The display is not only very bright, but also boasts accurate color reproduction. Thanks to the LTPO technology, refresh rates are dynamically adjusted with up to 120 Hz possible.

The iPhone 16 Pro is a powerful overall package (just like the Pro Max) with only a few shortcomings.

The triple camera offers good to very good image quality with all lenses. In particular, its videography talents deserve kind words, which now also support recording Ultra HD videos with up to 120 frames per second as well as Dolby Vision. There are no rivals for the time being.

The drawbacks are the lack of support for 320 MHz Wi-Fi and the absence of high-res Bluetooth audio codecs.

The Xiaomi 15 is a compact flagship smartphone with a 6.36-inch display that offers top performance despite its compact size. It uses the new Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC from Qualcomm. The LTPO OLED display of the Xiaomi 15 is characterized by exceptional brightness. In HDR mode, peak values of over 3,500 cd/m² are achieved.

The Xiaomi 15 sets new standards in terms of performance and battery life in the compact flagship smartphone category.

Another highlight is the battery life. Thanks to a large battery with a silicon-carbon anode, which enables a higher energy density, the Xiaomi 15 lasts almost 23 hours of simulated web surfing. That's over four hours more than its predecessor. The triple camera with three 50-MPix sensors has been slightly adapted: The optical zoom of the telephoto lens is now 2.6x instead of 3.2x as in last year's model, which reduces the flexibility of the Leica camera system somewhat.

The ultra-slim Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge measures just 5.85 mm in height with a robust finish with a titanium frame, Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 on the display and IP68 certification - the 163 g lightweight device remains surprisingly torsion-resistant. Despite the slim body, Samsung relies on modern technology: it has a bright 6.7″ LTPO OLED panel with 120 Hz and is powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with 12 GB RAM.

Samsung delivers an impressively thin yet powerful flagship with the GalaxyS25 Edge.

Other features include Wi-Fi 7, UWB, dual eSIM, USB 3.2 and up to seven years of software updates. In terms of the camera system, Samsung uses the same 200 MP main camera as in the Ultra model as well as a 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera. However, a telephoto lens is missing due to the thin design. The battery only has a capacity of 3,900 mAh, but still delivers solid battery life in everyday use.

The Honor Magic V5 is currently one of the thinnest foldables and impresses with its stability and IP59 protection despite its slim design. The foldable main display and cover display are bright, color-coordinated and easy on the eyes thanks to PWM dimming. In addition to pen support, the device offers Bluetooth 6.0, Wi-Fi 7 with 6 GHz band, numerous 5G bands as well as offline translation and AI-supported deepfake recognition.

With Android 15 and MagicOS 9.0.1 from launch, Honor guarantees seven years of updates in the EU. Security is ensured by a fingerprint scanner in the power button and fast facial recognition. The triple camera delivers versatile shots with a powerful 3x periscope zoom. However, it is a shame that the peak brightness of the display is only reserved for HDR content.

The OnePlus 13 presents itself as an innovative flagship smartphone that stands out in particular thanks to its new battery technology. With the help of a silicon-carbon anode, a significantly increased battery life is achieved without increasing the weight of the device. The smartphone's performance is based on the Snapdragon 8 Elite, which enables high performance.

The OnePlus 13 is an all-round successful smartphone that is only not quite on a par with other top smartphones in terms of camera quality. 

The display of the OnePlus 13 impresses with its outstanding quality and the integration of 4K PWM technology, which ensures a precise image that is easy on the eyes. The smartphone also supports fast charging, with the appropriate power adapter included in the scope of delivery. The camera setup delivers solid results and offers a wide range of options. The OnePlus 13 has to put up with criticism, particularly in terms of communication regarding update support and sustainability.